Scientists map the mysterious dark side of the moon, revealing billions of years of lunar history

The findings, published August 7 in the Journal of Geophysical Research, reveal billions of years of hidden lunar history.

The Chinese rover is equipped with a technology called Lunar Penetrated Radar (LPR).

It’s a device that allows the rover to send radio signals deep into the lunar surface, explains lead author of the study Jianqing Feng.

“Then it listens for the echo that comes back.” Scientists can use radio waves bouncing back from underground structures to create a map of the moon’s underground surface.

In 2020, scientists used Yutu-2’s LPR to map the upper 40 meters of the lunar surface, but they haven’t gone any deeper yet.

This new data indicates that the upper 40 meters of the lunar surface is composed of multiple layers of dust, soil, and fractured rock.

Also hidden inside this structure was a crater formed when a large body collided with the moon.

Feng and his colleagues hypothesized that debris surrounding this formation was ejected from the impact.

Scientists also discovered five separate layers of lunar lava that seeped into the lunar landscape billions of years ago.

Feng and his colleagues found that layers of igneous rocks weakened as they approached the lunar surface. This indicates that less lava flowed in subsequent eruptions than in previous eruptions. “The moon was slowly darkening and its vapor dissipated after its volcanic phase,” Feng said. “His energy was waning with time.”

Volcanism on the moon is thought to have ended about a billion years ago (although scientists have discovered some evidence of much younger volcanic activity dating back to 100 million years ago). For this reason, the Moon is often considered “geologically dead”. However, Feng said that there might still be magma deep beneath the surface of the moon.

Chang’e-4 hasn’t finished its work on the moon yet. Feng hopes that in the future the rover will provide us with information about various and unexpected geological formations.